This application is a continuation-in-part application of Ser. No. 270,103 filed Nov. 14, 1988, now abandoned.
The present invention relates to a tambour door wherein the door, when in use, gives a solid appearance, and more particularly may include a design which is cut into the tambour.
In the manufacture of heretofore known tambour doors, small strips of wood having tapered, chamfered, or rounded edges are placed in a touching relation and are held together by adhesively securing these pieces of wood to a flexible backing material, usually cloth. Generally, tambour doors are assembled from a random selection of wood strips cut from wood panels. And, the wood panels themselves are cut from different parts of a log. Therefore, the wood grain and color of adjacent wood strips do not match. The transversely extending grooves in these tambour doors formed by the tapered chamfered or rounded edges of the individual strips is, therefore, necessary to mask or disguise the mismatching grains and color of the wood strips. The resulting sheet which includes a plurality of traversely extending grooves thereacross, has been used for many years in roll-top desks, flexible-type closures for entertainment centers, and similar type applications.
No tambour door known to us has the appearance of a solid door because of the necessity of the grooves in the door as well as the mismatched wood grain and color.
Further, no tambour door known to us has a continuous design therein extending over a portion of the width and length of the door.
The new tambour door is designed to allow a furniture or cabinet manufacturer to design a door which incorporates the appearance of solid pocket doors or hinged doors. However, the tambour door is adaptable for movement in a curved path and in an open position is virtually out of sight.
Furthermore, prior to the present invention, the facade which included a plurality of transversely extending spaced grooves did not give the solid appearance that could be obtained with pocket or hinged doors.